44 MANAGEMENT OF HIGH SEAS FISHERIES 



to retain control of the investigation and management of these im- 

 portant fisheries. 



One useful test of the desirability of the present structure, and the 

 Commission's current method of operation, is a comparison with 

 other international commissions which do somewhat similar work 

 and which have proved successful. 



It is of interest that the four international commissions which have 

 been most successful in building effective research and management 

 programs also operate in the Pacific Ocean. They are the Interna- 

 tional Fur Seal Commission, the International Pacific Halibut Com- 

 mission, the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, and 

 the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. The Fur Seal Com- 

 mission has been eminently successful in restoring the over-all abun- 

 dance and the annual harvest of the fur seal herds of the Pribilof 

 Islands. The Pacific Halibut Commission has been successful in 

 restoring and stabilizing the productivity of the halibut stocks of the 

 northeastern Pacific Ocean. The International Pacific Salmon Com- 

 mission has shown eminent success in gradual solution of basic prob- 

 lems of conservation of sockeye and pink salmon in the Fraser River, 

 in the management of the fisheries for both these species, and in the 

 equal division of the catch between Canada and the United States. 

 The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission has prescribed reg- 

 ulations for the yellowfin tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific after a 

 thorough investigation of the tuna stocks and the bait fishes of this 

 area. The results of this investigation have been accepted by the 

 scientific world as an adequate foundation for the regulations that 

 have been recommended. We may confidently expect that if the rec- 

 ommended regulations are followed, the yield of the yellowfin tuna 

 in the eastern tropical Pacific will be stabilized in the future at a high 

 level of yield. 



In attempting to assess the reasons for the success of these four 

 commissions it must be recognized that the problems they have faced 

 are quite different from the problems faced by the North Pacific 

 Commission. It would be impossible to prescribe exactly the same 

 type of organization for the North Pacific Commission. For example, 

 the interests of the parties to the North Pacific Treaty are much more 

 divergent than are those of the parties to the Halibut, Salmon, or 

 Tuna Treaties. While the interests of the various parties might have 

 been equally divergent in the case of the Fur Seal Treaty, the fur seal 



